The Lizard in the MC2

 

With Spider-Man: No Way Home on everyone’s mind, I figured now is a great time to cover some of the MC2 counterparts of the villains confirmed to appear in the film. Today, we are taking a look at Dr Curtis ‘Curt’ Connors aka The Lizard in the MC2.

 

Dr Curt Connors first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #6 but makes his MC2 debut as both Connors and The Lizard in Amazing Spider-Man Family #1 within the first of the (sadly cut short) Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man series of short stories. This story takes place at some point after the infant May Parker is rescued and returned to Peter and Mary Jane Parker by Kaine and prior to Peter’s final battle with the Green Goblin.

 

After having had a few ‘gloriously normal’ weeks as a family, Peter and Mary Jane leave May with Anna Watson to meet Dr Connors and his wife Martha for dinner. However, Curt hasn’t returned from Empire State University and isn’t answering calls. Martha reveals that she and their son Billy have been unwell with symptoms that led Curt to suspect their drinking water in Florida was compromised. With Billy appearing very unwell, Peter and Mary Jane head to Empire State University to check on Dr Connors.

 

Mary Jane and Peter discover Curt’s Empire State University laboratory has been smashed up and find his notes for a formula to purify the water in the Everglades, however the process could threaten the reptiles there. Believing this conflict between his family and the environment may have driven Curt over the edge, and with Mary Jane’s blessing Peter sets out to find Connor’s as Spider-Man.

 

Finding Connors has transformed into The Lizard, Spider-Man battles various reptiles to reach the doctor’s alter ego. The Lizard reveals he is trying to protect his reptilian family from Connor’s water treatment plan until Spider-Man tells him that Connors intentionally called forth the Lizard because he didn’t want to use a formula that would only save one of his families at the cost of the other. Apparently accepting Curt saw the reptiles as family too, the Lizard reverted back to Connors. Dr Connors returned to the drawing board, determined to find a mutually beneficial solution to the problem, once more hiring Peter as a lab assistant to help in this endeavour.

 

That’s it for The Lizard in the MC2, though it’s worth noting with this story taking place nearly 15 years in the past, we don’t know the ultimate fate of Dr Curt Connors and his scaly other half. Another odd note is Martha Connors acting as though she’s meeting Mary Jane for the first time, despite having met more than once prior to this occasion in the Main Marvel Universe. But we can give her a pass here as she states she and Billy haven’t been very well.

 

Until I figure out an explanation for the ever-young Billy Connors, I remain

 

frogoat

Building a Rogues Gallery

One of the biggest challenges of any superhero comic is building up the rogues gallery. If Spidey didn't have such an impressive array of villains to trounce every story, he wouldn't be nearly as interesting. Yes, the character of Peter Parker is fascinating,  but think: without the dynamics of his and Norman Osborn's relationship wouldn't he be a little less? Without the Green Goblin to torment Spider-Man, life just wouldn't be as flavorful. Doctor Otto Gunther Octavius', with all his plans and arms, and Electro with his electricity, Venom with his dark-Spidey-analog schtick. Cruel old Vulture, cold-blooded and cold-hearted Lizard, stinging Scorpion, Cunning Hobgoblin, tricky Mysterio. The list goes on and on. I may not be knowledgeable about DC Comics, but honestly, Batman's rogues gallery are notoriously notable. The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, so many long-running titles and characters have developed many varied and fascinating villains through the years.

But what are all these new heroes supposed to do? Sometimes, borrowing from other characters works wonders. Daredevil doesn't have many truly great bad guys, but Kingpin fits so well amongst DD's assorted rogues, it's like he was made for the part. Spider-Girl utilised a few of daddy dearest's villains in her adventures. Notable amongst them are the Hobgoblin and Carnage. In fact, I'd go so far as to say ol' Kingsley worked better against Mayday, the cunning older man against the youthful hero. A new twist on an old villain then, is that the answer?

A mix of new villains unique to the character has to be included, surely. Otherwise, isn't it just wholesale theft? Okay, so Spider-Girl has some nice villains too: Dragon King and Mr Nobody are personal favorites of mine. They have a nice visual and both pose a genuine threat when written appropriately. Any villain can become iconic. By tossing a loved one off a bridge, for example. But a good villain shouldn't have to resort to killing cast members. That's cheap. In the case of the Green Goblin, his and Peter's war was personal. The death of Gwen Stacy was a direct result of it, but I don't believe it's the crux of what makes Norman Osborn infinitely re-usable. Osborn himself is interesting: A ruthless businessman with a lot of personality before he ever put on a garish green mask.

I love this art by John Romita Jr

Maybe that's the answer then: A mix of the old and new, the borrowed and true-blue with a lot of character depth and a great visual thrown in for good measure. What do you think?

Until Hypno Hustler gets his own series, I remain

frogoat

Review: Amazing Spider-man

This is my late review of the new Spidey flick, The Amazing Spider-man. I'm on the fence on this one. I'm genuinely surprised by all the positive reviews, though, I have to say. I watched the film and I kept waiting for it to snatch me away on a web-line and take me on an adventure. Let's start with the good, then, shall we?

 Andrew Garfield is Peter Parker. With his gangly frame, and his delivery of snappy jokes and jabs, he was Spidey, while also demonstrating the angsty emotions and intelligence of that geek Peter I've know much of my life, Peter Parker. Emma Stone shines as a modern-day Gwen Stacy, with her awkward but somehow confident flirting with Garfield and her natural air of intellect and charm make her a worthy companion. Honestly, I felt the entire cast did an amazing job. Heck, the special effects were dang good too.

 The trouble is, the film never goes anywhere. Yes, Uncle Ben dies and Peter attempts to find the killer. Yes, Curt Conners becomes the Lizard. And yes, Captain Stacy even dies at the climax of the film. But it never felt like the elements of the story fitted together naturally. In fact, watching some of the trailers and thinking over what I saw in theaters, I'm inclined to believe several scenes were shoot and inserted late in production, while others were removed from the final product. For example, there is a subplot involving Peter looking into his parents disappearance that leads him to the Dr Conners lab. Only, he never really asks the good doctor anything about his parents, while a clip from one of the trailers depicts the Lizard taunting Peter with this information. Funny, that wasn't in the film. A lot of scenes end up feeling like this; set up, build up, and then dropped. The shadowing villain behind the Ratha fulfills his role by putting pressure on Conners to deliver a...cure, I guess, for Osborn, who we are told is dying. Ratha shows up throughout the film until the Lizard emerges and appears to be hunting him...but then we never see Ratha again. He just disappears midway through the story. I'm guessing another victim of studio meddling.

But honestly, I could have forgiven so much more because, as I said, the performances were all brilliant. I enjoyed a sort-of-homage to Sam Raimi's films with New York workers pulling strings to get Spidey to the location of his big showdown with the Lizard. I hope this review doesn't come off as overly negative, as I found a lot to enjoy in this film, with it's more serious tone and it's mechanical webshooters. I just wish there was more to like. At the end of the day, I enjoyed it enough to walk away happy that they made another Spidey flick, but also wondering how Marvel would have handled it's top hero, given the chance.